Policies

Metadata policy

• Anyone may access the metadata free of charge.
• The metadata may be re-used in any medium without prior permission for not-for-profit purposes provided the OAI Identifier or a link to the original metadata record are given.
• The metadata must not be re-used in any medium for commercial purposes without formal permission.

Data policy

• Anyone may access full items free of charge subject to publisher permissions.
• Copies of full items generally can be:
  • reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium
  • for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge
    provided:
  • the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given
  • a hyperlink and/or URL are given for the original metadata page
  • the content is not changed in any way
• Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holders.

Content policy

• Gloucestershire Evidence & Research Repository (GERR) is a multi-institution subject-based repository including research published by staff working within Gloucestershire ICS (GICS).  Typically it covers the areas of health and social care.
• The repository permits only items where there is an acknowledged author who is working within GICS and where there is an affiliation to a legitimate GICS organisation is clearly stated.  If the person or organisation is a named “collaborator” then this will be excluded.
• The repository holds published research articles and conference abstracts.  Preprints, editorials, journalist and commentary are excluded.
• Full text documents will only be included if they are Open Access with an explicit Creative Commons Copyright Licence.
• All items are individually tagged with their publication status.

Submission policy

• Items my only be submitted by staff working within GICS.
• Authors may only submit their own work for archiving.
• Administrators may deposit on behalf of authors where permission is not required to ensure the completeness of the repository.
• The administrator only vets items for the eligibility of authors/depositors, relevance to the scope of the repository, date published, valid layout and format, and the exclusion of spam.
• The validity and authenticity of the content of submissions is the sole responsibility of the depositor.
• Items can be deposited at any time, but the full text will not be made publicly visible unless it is Open Access.
• Any copyright violations are entirely the responsibility of the authors/depositors.
• If the repository receives proof of copyright violation, the relevant item will be removed immediately.

Preservation policy  

• Items will be retained indefinitely.
• The repository will try to ensure continued readability and accessibility.
• The repository regularly backs up its files according to current best practice.
• Items may not normally be removed from the repository.
• Acceptable reasons for withdrawal include:
  • Proven copyright violation or plagiarism
  • Falsified research
  • National security
  • Legal requirements and proven violations
• Withdrawn items 
  • are not deleted per se but are removed from public view.
  • identifiers/URLs are retained indefinitely.
  • URLs will continue to point to a retaining citation, to avoid broken links and to retain item histories.
• Changes to deposited items are not permitted.
• If necessary, an updated version may be deposited.
• In the event of the repository being closed, the database will be transferred to another appropriate archive.

Acknowledgement

These policies are based on the JISC OpenDoar Policy Support Tool https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/opendoar/policytool/